hty thousand, but it is probable that the estimate was an
exaggeration. By request of the Synod, the Separatists were prosecuted
by the government, who used as a pretext an article in the _Code
Napoleon_, which forbade the assembly of more than twenty persons for
worship without the consent of the civil authorities. They were defended
by many lawyers of the school of Bilderdyk. Foremost of the number was
Groen Van Prinsterer, "the conscience of the Legislative Assembly, the
right arm of religion in the State, and the defender of the principle of
religion in the school." They were assailed by mobs who called them the
"New Lights."

The schism was not a success. What promised to be a great and honorable
Church, like the Free Church of Scotland, with which it now stands
connected, carried with it much of the prejudice and bigotry of the
land. It did not identify itself with scientific progress, and paid
little regard to education. Any man of piety and utterance could become
a preacher in one of its pulpits. It has at present a Seminary at
Kampen, with a small faculty of three professors. Its course of study
will compare favorably with that of any institution in the United
States. The young men of talent, who now grow up in its fold, are
prejudiced against its ultraism, and stand ready at any moment to unite
with some new movement which will combine the piety of their fathers and
the scientific demands of the present day. The radical defects of its
initial steps were narrow-mindedness and fanaticism. The Separatists
utterly ignored the elements of good in the mother-church. They could
have done infinitely better service by casting all their influence with
Bilderdyk and his followers in the Church, instead of arraying
themselves against it, and becoming an enemy from without. Some of the
leaders have organized colonies, which greatly weakened the power and
prestige of those who remained at home. The emigrants came to America
and settled, for the most part, in the Western States.

THE GRONINGEN SCHOOL. Each of the two tendencies prevalent in the Church
of Holland had its decided defects. While one was zealous for
theological training, it was nevertheless cold, indifferent and
Rationalistic. While the other was burning with religious fervor and a
practical evangelism, it was deficient in culture, scientific grasp, and
a capacity to meet the wants of the time. There was a call for a third
party, which would unite the best feat